Stereo/alarm related electrical gremlin

[kylejohnston1]

My car came with a non working older Eclipse head unit. I replaced it about a week ago with a new Blaupunkt head unit. I researched other threads before the install and I made sure to isolate the green wire and wrap it with electrical tape. The install went well and everything seemed to be in order (or so I thought!).

Fast forward to several days later. I go to start the car and it tries to turn over but the battery is too low. Crap…current drain. I also noticed I was getting a double blinking light on my door locks indicating there is an alarm fault. My first step was to pull the new head unit out and double check the green wire to make sure it was properly isolated. No problems here. I also checked for cuts/nicks that could be causing the wire to ground out but the wire appears to be in perfect condition.

Upon further inspection, I noticed that my driver’s side interior dome light is staying on even when the driver’s side door is closed. Perhaps the switch in the door jamb that is compressed when the door is closed has failed? I am guessing the failed switch could also cause the alarm fault code.

Stayed in the garage until 1AM and now I am paying for it at work!

Thanks for any input,

Kyle

[Augurean]

Kyle,

Not exactly answering your question, but possibly helpful:

I recently upgraded my stereo, and had to deal with the same issues of a previous owner's mess and the alarm wiring. It, too, introduced a voltage drain that I was never able to track down in the stereo wiring. In order to save the battery, I resorted to yanking the stereo fuse (#38 I believe...) every time it sat for more than a day.

I eventually installed an Odyssey battery and kill switch (very happy with, btw), so I could cut the power easily, but this unfortunately also cut the power to the alarm. After a while of pulling the radio fuse again, I became lazy and wired a toggle switch into that socket, so I can easily cut the power to the radio and save the battery, without cutting off the alarm.

It sounds to me like you have an issue with the door, however, if you solve that and still find a current drain, it's probably just the stereo. From the research I've done, it seems a lot of modern head units have a current drain, even when the faceplate is off.

~Steven

[dewflex]

Take the rubber boot off and pull the door pin switch out, when it activates, it basically is grounding out the single wire. That wire probably corroded and broke off, and is now constantly touching the frame, ground. You'll have to fish it out and re-attach it.

[kylejohnston1]

The green wire strikes again and I even knew about it when I did the install. I missed that the shielding on the green wire had to be stripped back and isolated from the center wire. Once I did this, the alarm fault and battery drain went away. Problem solved!

As for the driver's side light staying on...the trunk was open. Once I closed it, the light went off. The bulb was burned out on the passenger side which is why only the driver's side light was coming on.

Life is good...